The invention relates to an arrangement of supercharging units for supercharging an internal combustion engine with a fluid comprising charge air and/or exhaust gas, wherein the supercharging units comprise at least one heat exchanger and at least one compressor.
To an increasing extent, modular solutions which save on construction space and keep the outlay on connection low are realized within the context of exhaust gas recirculation or charge air supply. The positionings of individual components of an exhaust gas recirculation system or of a charge air supply system, which positionings have hitherto been sometimes independent, generally also require an increased outlay on assembly during the completion of the engine. Sometimes, the independent positions are comparatively far apart, and therefore this may incur disadvantages with regard to operational or production costs. For example, individual supercharging units of the type mentioned at the beginning are distributed comparatively far apart from one another over the engine compartment in the vicinity of an internal combustion engine and are connected to one another in a fluid-conducting manner, for example via pipe or hose connections. For the assembly, the supercharging units are generally fitted individually in the construction space-coordination of the overall arrangement of the supercharging units with regard to flow or conduit optimization, and thermodynamic and constructional coordination being possible only to a limited extent. Different manufacturers generally make a delivery to the final assembly site-necessitating a quality check, in particular with regard to the connection technology, at the final assembly site.
A known approach for reducing problems of this type is known from EP 1 643 097 A1 which discloses a multifunctional module which integrates the functions of exhaust gas cooling and regulation of the exhaust gas cooling and to which a heat exchanger can be attached.
Such a module generally has to be designed with regard to a comparatively specific construction space situation. A solution which solves the above-mentioned problems within the context of a more flexible approach would be desirable.